MT D2500 not cranking

[lltommyc]

I'm new to the site but very happy to see the amount of experience on this forum. I'm hoping to get a few ideas of what might be the problem for this tractor. The back ground for this is that I use it to run a shredder on about 20 acres and after a recent deep cold snap for us here in texas (in the teens for about 3 days) the tractor would not crank even though it was a nice 70 degrees. The battery is about 1 year old and I just thought it didn't have much of a charge so I gave it a good charge with my fancy ctek charger, reinstalled it and when the key is turned to the start position it still just makes a deep click sound once and doesn't turn over at all. Its stays at some land of mine about an hour and a half away and I had to get back before I messed with it so I haven't looked into it much. Any ideas on where I should start my efforts?

 

[mit]

check for corrosion in the starter area. tap the starter with a hammer (not with breaking force. just tap.) . if no change remove the starter and have it serviced/rebuild. the click you heard is most likely the solenoid operating.thats the part where the heavy battery wire attaches. the solenoid could be defective or the starter brushes which is inside the starter could be bad/defective.

 

[lltommyc]

Thanks mit! Is there any way to check the starter to see if it really is broken?

 

[oliver28472]

Have the battery tested too. Even though it's not that old it could still be defective. What kind of shape are your cables in? If you can see corrosion on the copper strands they should be replaced. Have you tried jumper cables? That could eliminate the starter.

 

[lltommyc]

Yeah ill sure do that- my fancy battery charger usually shows a battery that isn't doing well but who knows! Ill also check the cables- covered with that good ol thin layer of oil/grease and dirt. What size battery do most people run on these 2 cylinder diesels (cca)?

 

[modifyit]

Thanks mit! Is there any way to check the starter to see if it really is broken?

You can quickly jumper the battery connection at the solenoid with the terminal leading into the starter to find out if the starter is working. Beware that if the starter is OK, the engine will attempt to crank. That's why I suggest just momentarily making the connection. A big screwdriver always works for me.
Then if the starter works, the solenoid is probably bad. You can usually just replace that.

 

[mit]

Satoh Parts
the only sure way to to get through this is by the process of elimination. first you have to charge and load test the battery. you can also use jumper cables and boost from another vehicle. you can use a test light to check for power at the starter.the heavy wire from the battery at the starter should have power all the time .the small wire should have power when the switch is turned to start.if you have a strong battery and it is just clicking then its the starter /starter solenoid that needs attention.to test the starter by itself you will have to remove it and put in a vice.then you would have to hook up a wire from a battery negative to the starter frame and the battery positive to the solenoid heavy connection . then you would have to jumper the small solenoid connection to the large/heavy one with a screwdriver or a starting button switch.

 

[lltommyc]

Soooo I come back fairly humbly to say I'm an idiot! Hahaha! I went back out to the land where the tractor is and tried first just jumping it and it turned over- yeah that simple. My zillion dollar battery charger was wrong about the battery. So I took it and got a new one (a regular size one, because the one in it was a much smaller one that looked underpowered for a diesel motor) and it cranked right up no problems at all. Thanks for the help- I should've slowed down and checked the most obvious things first!

 

[mikando]

I have had this happen to me on two tractors and a bobcat. In each case the problem was eventually traced to bad connections on the battery leads. There was enough current getting through to operate the solenoid, but not the starter. Hooking up a jump starter sometimes works and confuses the issue.
The battery connections to the starter and the earth connection to the chassis can get fouled up with oil, dirt and /or corrosion and this prevent enough current getting through to the starter. Same for the battery connectors. So now I first clean up all connections. Any connection made by mechanically clamping the battery cables is replaced by a soldered on eyelet. Polish the eyelets to remove any grease or corrosion.
I wonder how many serviceable starters get replaced but the problem is really solved by the technician routinely cleaning up the connections.

 

[lltommyc]

Yeah I did put new teminals on, but the parts house's machine showed battery also had an internal short- those connections sure did need the overhaul like you say